Delmar Anholt Jr. and the Valentine’s Day Homicide
What drove this 20-year-old to murder his girlfriend and unborn child?
On February 14th, 1982, the gruesome discovery of a woman and her unborn child is made. Kneeling over the body is a man, attempting to gouge out the woman’s eyeballs.
But who is this couple, and what could have led up to the actions taken on this horrific night?
The Discovery
Instead of spending Valentine’s Day at home, trooper Ronald Ruecker was out patrolling U.S. Highway 30.
While driving South on the highway, Ruecker was heading towards a small town called Scappoose in Columbia County, Oregon. It was early evening, and the sky was overcast, but his car headlights outlined two figures lying a few feet apart on a hillside.
Ruecker grabbed his flashlight and made his way to the entrance of the Columbia Memorial Gardens, where the two figures were. Upon closer inspection, the first figure was simply a backpack, with a jacket draped over it. The backpack was soiled, but Ruecker had trouble discerning what the stains were with only his flashlight, so he decided to move on to the second figure.
The second figure ultimately turned out to also be a backpack, with a jacket draped over it…
